Ch.7

To my surprise, the school changed quite a bit.

At least from the outside. It was still imposing as ever. To my surprise, it made me smile. I don't remember looking at it fondly before. Maybe because the Taj was also built on the inside a mountain?

The gardens surrounded it, which grew and changed since the last time, the giant maple trees were new. They were enhanced by magic, and their canopies now covered half a football field.

I saw the flowers were the same .. looking at them made me nostalgic.

" Huh? .. What do you think? "

I walked ahead with Uncle Marcus as my friends tried to navigate their first piece of socialising in years with the Orlean siblings.

" It's more modern for sure.. but how did they allow you to change a school thats been standing unchanged for 6 centuries now? "

The Directorate I my father talked about would never allow even a small change such as gardening.

" I think you underestimated my charms .. and I paid a lot of gold. " He admitted it.

I smiled, thinking now it makes more sense. Looking at the changes made, tress at the garden with some minimalistic furniture. Some patch work done on the outside walls .. I'm sure I'm done with magic. The towers got the biggest attention.

This used to feel like a crumbling haunted castle held together by the hopes and dreams of those who resided in it and by magic itself.

Now it's just looked like an old castle. I bet the insides are still the same.

Not even my uncle had the power to change everything.

There were more children around than I thought, dispersed, and had spirited conversations with one another.

We did arrive earlier than the school started. Most kids will come around tomorrow morning and afternoon.

" How do you feel? "

I looked into a somewhat nervous face of the Headmaster .. sigh .. it's hard to ignore people if they care about you.

" I'm fine .. it's not like I have some deep-seated soul crashing memories that haunt me .. I just didn't wanna be here back then. "

He smiled at my delivery but understood I'm not lying. I felt fine.

I heard accelerated footsteps and saw the girl my uncle brought with him walking ahead.

" Headmaster Aslan? I think we should take Ferith and his friends through the cheking procedure. Maybe show them around the school? "

That girl named Lor had enough of Pelit attempts to compliment her in awkward ways and stepped ahead of us.

Hearing her questions, my uncle waived her off.

" That's not necessary. Miss Orlean, Ferith spent his ..

" Khmm .. " I cleared my throat.

I caught his eyes, and he understood I wanted to keep my childhood to myself .. he changed his answer.

" Absolutely .. Take care, children. Ferith, come find me after you settle in. " He said said over his shoulder walking away.

" I will .. " I said to myself.

I walked beside my friends and waited for our guides to start the tour.

" Umm first .. as we told your friends here, it's unprecedented that a student starts 2 years in, but here we are. " The guy named Milan sighed dramatically.

" But .. the headmaster told us that you spent time as monster hunters, so it should be easy to catch up with the other students. " his sister took over softening the landing.

We shared a few glances. Over the weeks, we discussed every single cliche that might happen in the first few weeks and some that will never happen to anyone ever.

Getting thinly disguised grief for starting school with, what the others viewed as some sort of advantage or disadvantage? Check.

" You mentioned certain procedures? " I asked, moving the conversation along.

" Yes .. please follow us. "

Milan took the lead her sister close behind him. Once they created some distance, Pelit leaned on my shoulder.

" Ferith .. I think I'm in love. "

" .. God damn it, Pelit. " I groaned.

" That's not possible. " summarised Rimel.

" Never heard of love at first sight? " Pelit asked, staring at the Orlean girls back.

" I'm telling you it's not real. It's a chemical reaction in the brain, nothing more. " Rimel insisted.

" Rim .. I think I will judge that myself, besides some guy who never fallen in love before, educating someone who just did? Absurd. Do you hear this, Ferith? " He turned to me.

" .. God damn it, Pelit. "

~

We arrived at the back entrance that led to the enormous garden and the Ecouves.

" .. that is the forest of Ecouves. Through it, there's the town of Etien, one of the oldest magican towns in history. "

Lor Orlean provided information as we walked past them, Pelit glued to every word, and I saw Rim sometimes mouth along what she was saying, proving that all this was in the books he read.

Milan largely ignored all of us.

They lead us to an enormous wooden door with some intricate carvings and sayings in ancient Aramaic.

" This here door is special .. " The girl ran ahead of us. " .. For one, you might notice it has no discernable way of opening it. "

She was right .. well, it was made from a single slab of wood, without a keyhole or even a single crack.

" The story goes like this .. this here piece of wood actually came from space. " She pointed up. " .. now how is that possible? I'll tell you ..the tale of the indomitable wood.. "

She had too much fun with it ..

The fabled story was that this piece was just part of a larger chunk.

It fell from the sky as a gift from the God of magicans Merleau.

It turned out to be absolutely indestructible.

It stood useless and ignored for many yesrs until the first Headmaster begged the assistance of the fairies who, with the help of dwarfs manged to split the wood into smaller, more managable pieces and worked on it.

Some were given in the forms of weapons, a sword, a bow with 10 arrows, and a pair of daggers. All supposedly lost to the ages.

The rest were stolen and hidden in their realm from ours. It didn't sit well with the rulers of old.

Wars were fought for centuries and blah,blah,blah ..

Nonsense. Who would care for pieces of wood? Even if it's indestructible?

Well, her story lasted 10 minutes and 18 seconds to finish, completed with special effects and more useless fairy tales.

" .. As the fierce battle concluded, the Fairy Queen and her armies bent the knee, Grandmaster Iver Geller asked for one thing only .. to help him keep the school and young magicans safe. This door was given to ensure the peace of all those who would attend. "

" .. What a story. "

Pelit was mesmerised. Rim looked bored as in someone who already knew all of this, and even her own brother seemed to dose off at some point.

It didn't bother Lor Orlean, at the least.

" Indeed .. now the way to enter is simple.. you step forward and present your wand, like this .. " She demonstrated her words as she said them.

Her wand touched the surface of the wood, and it started making waves as if made entirely of water.

She gave us a large smile and passed through it. The ripples stopped once she disappeared, and the wood went to become solid again.

A second later, she walked out the same way.

" .. and that's that. The only way. " She looked proud of herself. " Headmaster Aslan already made sure it will take your signature. Don't ask how. "

I almost rolled my eyes hearing the fanatic overlays in her voice but held back.

" .. Now take out your wands and try. " She finished stepping aside.

Both Pelit and Rimel waited for me, knowing that I didn't have one.

I gave them an encouraging nod, and they went and presented their wands .. walked inside, spent a few seconds, and walked back out.

Once done, I just walked up to myself and put my hand on the door, which alerted our guide.

" .. No .. your wand Ferith .. like I showed you? A minute ago .. "

I glanced back, and Lor demonstrated in the air what she had done, waiving her wand around in a silly manner.

She was at least funny.

I let my magic seep inside the wood and felt something nostalgic clicking inside me.

The door let me pass, and I found myself inside the school.

The great hall was bigger than I remembered. Just as I thought. The insides were left alone. Literally, nothing changed.

Some students and teachers were standing around, making eyes at me. To be fair, I was still standing with my arm extended outward.

I gave them a little smile and walked outside.

" .. Unbelievable. How did you do that!? "

To my surprise, it was Milan Orlean who asked.

He was close .. uncomfortably close.

I stepped away from the guy before I answered.

" It's no big deal .. since I didn't have a wand, my uncle found a way around it. "

My lie was without flaws since even if they asked him, he would just tell them the same.

" Impossible! .. " Lor Orlean shrieked.

God .. all girls having this high pitched screams ..

She walked as close as her brother, except I didn't feel uncomfortable when she had done it.

" Every single magican ever born received their wand, directly handed down to us by Merleau himself! "

Was she an actual 5 year old to believe such a thing?

" Calm down, sister .. " her brother tapped her shoulders. " As you can clearly see, it.. it d-did happen. The Headmaster figured it out.. C-come .. come on! "

She had to be dragged a little, but her smell lingered. Hmm .. flowery.

Milan placed his sister beside my friends and walked back.

" Sorry about that, she doesn't handle surprises well. " He gave an apologetic smile.

His attitude did a 180.

" I didn't take offence. Would you mind if friends and friends take a little walk by ourselves. Talk a bit.. We stay close. " I promised.

" Uh huh .. sure. I'll calm my sister down a little. "

He walked away occasionally, looking back as if afraid I might attack him.

I led them back the front towards the garden, and after a little walk, we arrived at a beautifully made little gazebo filled with a small table and a few comfortable chairs.

I took a minute to find the deep slashes made on the wooden beam .. made by me.

Indeed, we built this gazebo with my father and uncle.

Ahh, sweet memories ..

" I never tire seeing people expression after learning about you. This one was entertaining enough. I'll give an .. 8 out of 10."

We laughed out loud at the statement Pelit made.

" You got a lot of .. annoying questions to look forward to. " Rim injected.

" I deal it with .. "

It's not like I had answers. No one did.

Indeed, in our world, at frigging birth, a literal magic wand already tuned to your signature will appear without fail.

These wands are not only proof that you meant to be a magican but also the only one you get.

My uncle once told me we knew more about other planets than these things our lives depend on.

" How does it feel? "

I looked back at Rimel.

" How does what feel? " I asked back.

He walked up to me, opening his hand showing the horizon.

" Knowing all of this is yours .. "

Nonsense ..

" Pfft .. don't make me laugh. " I pushed his hand away.

" I'm serious. It's in every single book I read. It was your family, the Aslan's helped the dwarfs build the school, hell they helped build the town of Etien, it's on your land .. I mean, it's practically yours. "

" I can't believe this. " Pelit spoke up with a shocked look. " .. this means you're super rich. "

Lord God..

" That's not my point. " Rim took back the flow.

" I'm sorry. What is your point? " Pelit asked.

" Alright! .. alright.. " I stepped in before it went and stole 20 min of my life. " Let's discuss this some other time and settle in already. "

I lead them by the arm back to the school. It was time to start our new lives in earnest.